Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Screening

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the location of each operational regional testing centre.

Ms Nadine Dorries: As of 29 July, there are 73 Regional Test Sites. These are Greenwich, Chessington, Leeds, Belfast, Manchester, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Gatwick, Plymouth, Worcester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Stansted, Edinburgh, Preston, Ipswich, Londonderry, Doncaster, Bristol, Brighton, Milton Keynes, Twickenham, Portsmouth, Lee Valley, Portadown, Exeter, Hull, Inverness, Peterborough, Coventry, Ebbsfleet, Bournemouth, Lincoln, Penrith, York, Greater Manchester, Carmarthen, Llandudno, Perth, Bradford, Guildford, Leicester, Abercynon, Heathrow, Newcastle, Nottingham, Enniskillen, Prestwick, Stratford, Stoke, Sheffield, Cambridge, Swindon, Salisbury, Taunton, Norwich, Gloucester, North Wales, Teesside, Liverpool, Telford, Welwyn Garden City, Blackburn, Ashford, Newbury, Ebbw Vale, Isle of Wight, Slough, Ramsgate, Oxford, Newport and Swansea.

Coronavirus: Screening

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in addition to the tests performed at test centres, how many home testing kits were sent out each day from between 27 April 2020 and 5 May 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 11 May 2020



Between 27 April 2020 and 5 May 2020, a total of 168,050 Home Test Kits were sent out. Between 5 May 2020 and 6 August 2020, a further 5,514,897 Home Test Kits were sent out.

Nurses: Protective Clothing

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure dialysis nurses treating patients who are shielding and vulnerable have access to adequate personal protective equipment.

Jo Churchill: Everybody working on the front line deserves to have the equipment they need to do their job safely and the Government is working night and day to make that happen. The United Kingdom Government and devolved administrations have published clear guidance on appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health and social care workers in different settings online at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppeHaving begun with a supply chain designed to accommodate delivery to 226 National Health Service trusts, we are now providing essential PPE supplies to 58,000 different settings, including care homes, hospices and community care organisations.Since 25 February, we have delivered over 2.4 billion items of PPE across the health and social care system within England. This includes over 198.5 million items of PPE authorised for release to designated wholesalers for onward sale to primary and social care providers, community pharmacies and dentists and 151 million items of PPE to local resilience forums.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for covid-19 test results to be (a) processed and (b) returned from the Poppleton Park and Ride testing site in York.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 18 May 2020



We do not hold data in this format. Overall turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

NHS and Social Services: Coronavirus

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) longest and (b) average waiting time has been for covid-19 test results in the (i) NHS and (ii) care sector.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.uk as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

Coronavirus: Screening

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time is for people to be given their covid-19 test results.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 02 June 2020



Turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pieces of personal protective equipment used by the NHS in 2019 were (a) masks, (b) goggles, (c) aprons, (d) pairs of gloves, (e) gowns, (f) visors and (g) other categories by (i) surgical level or (ii) grade.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 02 June 2020



Personal protective equipment (PPE) delivery statistics are published online at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ppe-deliveries-statistics-england-weekly-reportsA breakdown of PPE items distributed in 2019 has been published as part of this statistics release since 28 July. These are experimental statistics that the United Kingdom Government continues to develop in line with the requirements of those using the data.Approximately 2.43 billion items were distributed between 1 January and 31 December 2019 to all National Health Service trusts and some social care organisations. This figure is a partial snapshot of the PPE used in the system before the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual NHS trusts can source their own PPE in addition to central distribution routes. The NHS Supply Chain has since been expanded to 58,000 different settings, including care homes, hospices and community care organisations.

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the minutes of meetings held by the NHS COVID-19 App Ethics Advisory Board will be published.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 02 June 2020



The Ethics Advisory Board has met seven times since Thursday 2 April and minutes from these meetings will shortly be made publicly available.

Randox Laboratories: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) tests and (b) test results have been provided by Randox Laboratories under their contract for the delivery of covid-19 testing; whether that contract ended on 30 April 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: As of 29 July 2020, Randox laboratories have distributed more than 600,000 tests. We continue to scale up our capacity to ensure that everyone who needs a test can receive one. We continue to work with Randox to provide test results.

Randox Laboratories and Serco: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons (a) Randox and (b) Serco were initially listed as data processors in relation to the covid-19 testing programme and were subsequently removed from that list.

Ms Nadine Dorries: At the beginning of the roll-out of the National Testing Programme, we needed to move swiftly to ensure that we could stand up testing services to match demand. As the programme has developed, the roles of our suppliers have, on occasion, evolved and the services they provide have changed.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to mitigate the risk of contacts spreading the covid-19 in cases where test results are not being communicated to people within 48 hours; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Where a person develops symptoms of COVID-19 and receives a test, they should self-isolate in line with NHS Test and Trace guidelines to minimise further potential transmission. They should be self-isolating, unless accessing an in-person test site, which they should not do using public transport. Additionally, turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin. This includes the proportion of tests delivered within 48 hours.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the range of time taken is for covid-19 test results (a) by region and (b) in the UK.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 08 June 2020



We do not hold data by region. Overall turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

Coronavirus: Screening

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to meet its target of 200,000 covid-19 tests per day; and what plans his Department has to increase the number of covid-19 test centre locations.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We are working to ensure that we continue to scale up our testing capacity, allowing more people to be tested should they need it. We have exceeded the 200,000 testing capacity target, with current capacity standing at 338,413 as of 2 August 2020.We have established a network of testing sites across the United Kingdom with 73 Regional Test Sites, 17 Local Test Services (walk through), 22 Satellite Testing Centre, 236 Mobile Testing Units, and we will look to increase this in the coming months to meet our needs.

Dental Services: Greater Manchester

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide more level three personal protective equipment (PPE) to urgent dental care sites in Greater Manchester so that those sites have adequate PPE required to deliver aerosol generating procedures.

Jo Churchill: Since Monday 8 June all National Health Service practices were able to start, at their own pace, seeing patients again once they have appropriate social distancing and other safety measures in place. Personal protective equipment (PPE) for dentists is being made available through their business as usual wholesalers. We have also set up new distribution routes for dentistry to ensure continuity of supply for all urgent dental care centres and have placed them on the list of priority areas to receive supplies from Local Resilience Forums. PPE for dental practices will include equipment necessary for aerosol generating procedures.A risk assessment specifically relating to dentists using FFP2 instead of FFP3 respirators has not been made. Government guidance for dentists states that FFP3 respirators are advised for all aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) to prevent inhalation of aerosols. Some dental work is classed as AGPs. The Health and Safety Executive carried out a rapid review of the evidence of the effectiveness of FFP3, FFP2 and N95 masks earlier this year. The review stated that FFP2 and N95 respirators offer protection against COVID-19 and so may be used if FFP3 respirators are not available. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.hse.gov.uk/news/face-mask-equivalence-aprons-gowns-eye-protection-coronavirus.htm

Deloitte: Coronavirus

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that positive covid-19 test results under the commercial Deloitte system are shared with relevant local authorities.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 11 June 2020



Deloitte is contracted to provide professional services support to the Department and the National Testing Programme. Deloitte’s role has included setting up testing facilities; coordinating the set-up of home and satellite delivery channels; and designing the digital platform that enables people to book a test and register their kit. Deloitte makes this digital information available to the National Pathology Exchange.Once results are generated in the labs, the results information also flows to the National Pathology Exchange where the result is matched to the individual’s demographic information. These results are passed to Public Health England every 30 minutes through a data flow. As such, Deloitte does not have a role in the generation of results or the handling of positive case data.

NHS: Coronavirus

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2020 to Question  39482, if he will confirm whether he has had discussions with the Health and Safety Executive since the beginning of March 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 25 June 2020



Departmental officials have held virtual meetings and corresponded with the Health and Safety Executive on a number of occasions since the beginning of March 2020.

Deloitte: Coronavirus

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2020 to Question 48980 on Deloitte: Coronavirus, which Government or arms length body Deloitte is required to report positive covid-19 positive cases to.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 06 July 2020



Deloitte are not responsible for processing results data and are therefore not required to report to Public Health England (PHE). However, COVID-19 is a notifiable disease and, as such, all laboratories are legally required to report positive incidences to PHE under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010.

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a data protection impact assessment of the app being developed by Google and Apple for tracking and tracing covid-19.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 08 July 2020



The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced on 18 June that NHSX has begun the next phase of development in building an app that supports the end-to-end NHS Test and Trace service. This app will use the Google/Apple exposure notification system. We will carry out a Data Protection Impact Assessment in due course.

Coronavirus: Screening

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for the result from a home testing kits for covid-19 in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 09 July 2020



Turnaround times for Home Test Kits are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin. In the week of 23 July to 29 July, 72.2% of test results were received within 48 hours of the test being taken.

Coronavirus: Laboratories

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken for results to be returned from covid-19 tests conducted at Lighthouse Labs.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 09 July 2020



Results on turnaround times for test results are published weekly on GOV.UK. In the new network of diagnostic testing infrastructure between 23 July to 29 July:- 97.4% of tests results from regional test sites were returned the day after the test was taken, with 76.5% in under 24 hours;- 96.8% of test results from mobile testing units were returned the day after the test was taken, with 80.2% in under 24 hours; and- 74.7% of satellite test results were returned under 48 hours of the test being taken- home tests take time to be posted to a person and be couriered back to the lab. Because of this a low proportion of test results will be available within 24 hours of the test being taken. 72.2% of home test results were received within 48 hours of the test being taken.

Coronavirus: Screening

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of covid-19 test results that are lost.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Those who have not received a result within 72 hours can call the 119 Coronavirus Testing Contact Centre where operators can take their details and lodge a results investigation on their behalf.

Randox Laboratories: Coronavirus

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department's contract with Randox Laboratories requires the notification to Public Health England of positive covid-19 tests in line with the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010; and how many positive covid-19 tests were notified by that company under those regulations in each month in 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 09 July 2020



COVID-19 is a notifiable disease. As such, under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010, all laboratories are legally required to notify positive incidences to Public Health England.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Coronavirus

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce screening for post-traumatic stress disorder for people who have survived covid-19; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Emerging evidence suggests that some people recovering from the COVID-19 virus are likely to experience significant ongoing health problems, including mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to develop a digital, interactive, personalised recovery programme. The new ‘Your COVID Recovery’ service, which was announced on 5 July, forms part of National Health Service plans to expand access to COVID-19 rehabilitation treatments for those who have survived the virus but still have problems with mental health problems, breathing or other complications.

Coronavirus: Screening

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2020 to Question 53366 on Coronavirus: Screening, in what format his Department records that information; and if he will publish that data available to date.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Turnaround times for tests conducted under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

Coronavirus: Screening

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has set a date by which he plans to turn all covid-19 tests around within 12 hours.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have made extraordinary improvements that means the vast majority of in-person tests at our testing sites continue to be returned the next day. For in-person tests (regional testing sites and mobile testing units), 87.7% of all tests were received within 24 hours (and 96.4% the day after the test was taken). The current average COVID-19 testing turnaround time in the National Health Service pathology laboratories is less than 12 hours, enabling healthcare professionals to deliver results as quickly as possible to patients and provide appropriate care. Over 97% of NHS labs have an average test turnaround time of under 24 hours. The turnaround times for both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 are published weekly on GOV.UK as part of the Weekly NHS Test and Trace Bulletin.

Coronavirus: Screening

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason postcode level Pillar 2 data from the National Testing Programme dashboard was not provided to local authority Directors of Public Health for their local authority area on a daily basis.

Ms Nadine Dorries: NHS Test and Trace have compiled a detailed local authority dashboard which has been available since 11 June. This includes a total-local authority specific view of the number of tests conducted, the total number of positive cases and a rolling average for Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, as well as information on 111, 999 and online triage cases related to COVID-19. The dashboard is updated by Public Health England daily.On 24 June we made available secure postcode-level and individual case testing data with all Directors of Public Health with upper tier local authorities – this is available to them at any time to access using their own unique authentication details. As the information contained is personally identifiable, we do need a specific data sharing agreement in place with a specific named individual. Due to data protection laws, the users are typically the Director of Public Health, who are granted access once they have returned the data sharing agreement.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to enable public health teams in local authorities to access data from primary care facilities recording patients with possible covid-19 symptoms to help with syndromic surveillance.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



The weekly syndromic surveillance reports are published on GOV.UK each Thursday and are available for local authorities and the public to access at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/news/weekly-covid-19-surveillance-report-publishedThey contain a range of primary care syndromic indicators, including COVID-19. COVID-19 syndromic outputs at England and Public Health England (PHE) Centre level are also included in the weekly PHE COVID-19 Surveillance Report. The England and Centre outputs are also included in the PHE Daily COVID-19 Surveillance Report. Both outputs are in the PHE COVID-19 LA Report Store available for Directors of Public Health and local authorities to access.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the regularity of pseudonymised testing data made available to public health teams in local authorities.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



Public Health England (PHE) is providing record level data, including postcode, to local authorities on a daily basis. PHE is also, providing identifiable data to Directors of Public Health daily from 21 July via a secure platform to improve their accessibility to the data.

Protective Clothing: Retail Trade

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish guidance on people exempt from the regulations on the compulsory wearing of face masks in shops and supermarkets.

Jo Churchill: The guidance was published on 14 July 2020 which includes details on exemptions to wearing a face covering and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own

Methadone: Prescriptions

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2020 to Question 61461 on Methadone: Prescriptions, what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of prescribers to safely electronically prescribe FP10 MDA opioid substitution therapy in England.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



The Government has announced that from Friday 24 July, members of the public must wear a face covering when visiting a shop or supermarket in England. Guidance on how to wear and remove a face covering was published online on 14 July. In addition, the Government is running a major proactive communications campaign on face coverings to alert the public where they are now required to wear face coverings and educate the public on how to correctly wear one. Legitimate reasons for not wearing a mask include if they are travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading to communicate or if they are not able to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability. People will be able to remove their face covering if speaking with people who rely on lip reading, facial expressions or clear sound to communicate.

Protective Clothing: Standards

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pieces of personal protective equipment sourced from (a) the UK and (b) overseas during the covid-19 outbreak have been deemed to be (i) faulty and (ii) otherwise unfit for use.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



The safety of health, care of all frontline staff is the paramount consideration. All personal protective equipment (PPE) procured from abroad that arrives at the Daventry warehouse is checked. If it is not CE marked then documents are sent to the United Kingdom regulators, the Health and Safety Executive and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, who agree to its release as the Market Surveillance Authorities for PPE and medical devices.Products are only released into the supply chain if the documents show the product is fit for its intended use. Anytime the Department or the National Health Service are alerted to any potential issues with PPE which has been distributed or is in stock, appropriate action is taken to ensure the immediate safety of frontline health and care staff, and to resolve the issues in question.All PPE sourced from the UK must undergo essential checks to ensure they meet the safety and quality required and we are offering support and advice to all groups that contact us to ensure their products are safe and effective. These specifications for PPE are published online and can be found on GOV.UK.

Protective Clothing: Fraud

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the risk of loss to the public purse as a result of fraud during the procurement of personal protective equipment; and what plans he has put in place to mitigate that risk.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



Fraud is a hidden crime and the Government takes fraud against the public sector seriously.The Department and NHS Counter Fraud Authority are working closely with partners, as part of the Government’s COVID-19 Counter-Fraud Response, to identify fraud risks and implement measures to reduce the impact and harm of fraud.Fraud Risk Assessments are being conducted to highlight high-risk areas for fraud, including procurement and inform the Department’s COVID-19 Post Event Assurance Action Plan. These robust measures aim to test, assess and enhance mitigations to prevent fraud losses. It is accepted across Government that there will be a lead time for frauds, around COVID

Health Services: Females

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support specialist health practitioners in the area of women’s health to implement new ways of working during the covid-19 outbreak.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the availability of specialist health practitioners and services in women’s health during the covid-19 outbreak.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what step he is taking to help ensure that variation in access to women’s health services is not exacerbated further by service closures during the covid-19 outbreak..

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have sufficient funding to ensure women’s health services are available for people who require diagnosis and treatment during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: As the Secretary of State set out in his speech on 30 July, the Government is keen to capture learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and to support health practitioners to implement new ways of working.The National Health System wrote to local systems on 31 July to set out the actions we are asking the NHS to take to take to restore and recover services whilst maintaining capacity to deal with future COVID-19 demand and winter pressures. This includes a full set of actions to ensure general practice and community services – including women’s health – can restore activity to usual levels and reach out proactively to patients whose care may have been delayed.The NHS would encourage patients dealing with painful symptoms to speak to their general practitioner in order to manage this safely and effectively.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference his oral contribution of 7 July 2020, Official Report, column 837, in light of the decision to require face masks to be worn in shops whether is plans to issue a badge or pass for people exempted from wearing a mask in shops or on public transport.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people with medical conditions who cannot wear a face covering will be permitted to go into supermarkets and shops from the 24 July 2020.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help prevent stigmatisation of people who are exempted from wearing a face covering under covid-19 lockdown restrictions when they are (a) using public transport and (b) visiting shops.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will launch a public awareness campaign to tackle the  stigmatisation of people who are exempted from wearing a face covering under covid-19 lockdown restrictions when they are (a) using public transport and (b) visiting shops.

Jo Churchill: Since Monday 8 June all National Health Service practices were able to start, at their own pace, seeing patients again once they have appropriate social distancing and other safety measures in place. Personal protective equipment (PPE) for dentists is being made available through their business as usual wholesalers. We have also set up new distribution routes for dentistry to ensure continuity of supply for all urgent dental care centres and have placed them on the list of priority areas to receive supplies from Local Resilience Forums. PPE for dental practices will include equipment necessary for aerosol generating procedures.A risk assessment specifically relating to dentists using FFP2 instead of FFP3 respirators has not been made. Government guidance for dentists states that FFP3 respirators are advised for all aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) to prevent inhalation of aerosols. Some dental work is classed as AGPs. The Health and Safety Executive carried out a rapid review of the evidence of the effectiveness of FFP3, FFP2 and N95 masks earlier this year. The review stated that FFP2 and N95 respirators offer protection against COVID-19 and so may be used if FFP3 respirators are not available. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.hse.gov.uk/news/face-mask-equivalence-aprons-gowns-eye-protection-coronavirus.htm

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on hygiene and safety of the continued use of single-use face masks; and whether he plans to issue guidance on their disposal.

Jo Churchill: Holding answer received on 21 July 2020



The personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance published online has indicated that fluid-resistant (Type IIR) surgical masks (FRSM), and eye protection can be subject to single sessional use. A single session refers to a period of time where a health and social care worker is undertaking duties in a specific clinical care setting or exposure environment. A session ends when the health and social care worker leaves the clinical care setting or exposure environment. Once the PPE has been removed it should be disposed of safely. The duration of a single session will vary depending on the clinical activity being undertaken.Under this, disposable, single-use, eye and face protection is to be discarded as healthcare (clinical) waste. FRSMs are for single use or single session use and then must be discarded - hand hygiene must be performed after disposal.PPE guidance is published at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/covid-19-personal-protective-equipment-ppe

Dental Services: Coronavirus

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that dentists and dental staff are included in the antibody testing programme for NHS staff and providers.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



On 21 May the Government announced plans for a national roll-out of antibody testing in the National Health Service and care sector. Since the end of May, lab-based antibody tests have been available to all NHS staff that want one, with patients and care residents eligible at their clinician’s request. Since the end of May, over 1.36 million (27 July) COVID-19 antibody tests have been carried out.The NHS staff include those working on NHS premises but not directly employed by the NHS, those working for the NHS but not on NHS premises, and those in primary, community, and mental health care including community pharmacists. This will include dentists and dental staff.

Hospitals: Parking

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2020 to Question 64364 on NHS: Parking, what assessment he has made of the potential financial effect on NHS staff of the removal of the hospital parking charge exemption.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 21 July 2020



I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 8 July, Official Report, column 966.No assessment of the financial effect of ending free parking for NHS staff has been made.

Surgery: Coronavirus

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s report entitled Elective Surgery during COVID-19, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that surgical teams throughout the UK have access to covid-light sites for their patients.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 21 July 2020



To help facilitate a safe increase in elective capacity NHS England has prioritised infection prevention and control.Additionally, the National Health Service has reached an unprecedented agreement with independent providers, enabling the utilisation of staff, equipment and facilities by the NHS to enable the expansion of elective care capacity. Locally agreed approaches have been determined as to the use of these sites and the design of this collaboration.

Hearing Impairment: Coronavirus

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to make available face masks from clear material to assist people in lip reading who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Jo Churchill: The Government recognise concerns about the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly face masks when it comes to people who lip read. The United Kingdom Government’s PPE procurement team has been working extremely hard to source clear facemasks which comply with UK safety standards and have signed a contract to supply stocks of clear masks into health and social care settings, to support those who need to lip read.

NHS: Radioisotopes

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of effectiveness of the Health Infrastructure Plan to update and improve the capability of the NHS to deliver nuclear medicine; and if he will make it his policy to increase the number of centres that are equipped to offer nuclear medicine.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 21 July 2020



No assessment has been made.Not all nuclear medicine services are commissioned at a national level; some are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the (a) total number of outstanding personal protective equipment orders that have not been fulfilled and (b) the cost to the public purse of any unfulfilled orders in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jo Churchill: Over 30 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been ordered overall from United Kingdom-based manufacturers and international partners to provide a continuous supply in the coming months. We have a robust process which ensures that orders are of high quality standard, meet commercial due diligence and checked for risk and fraud. All contracts are monitored for the delivery and safe receipt of the PPE and any compliance issues are followed up, the timings of which will vary according to when the contract was let.All contracts have clauses in them that allow the Department to seek redress if the company supplies faulty products or misses delivery dates.

Contact Tracing: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of contacts being traced through the covid-19 test and trace programme in (a) Newcastle and (b) the North East were from (i) Pillar 1 and (ii) Pillar 2 data is each time period for which data is available.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 22 July 2020



The Government publishes data for test and trace on GOV.UK providing reports that cover different data sets for the test and trace programme across Pillar 1 and Pillar 2. These include a breakdown for statistics within Newcastle and North East, with the latest data listed below:Daily statistics on GOV.UK on tests, cases and deaths contains information at upper tier local authority and lower tier local authority level on cases and rates and is updated daily at the following link:https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/Weekly NHS Test and Trace statistics on those reached by system, how many contact traced and testing/tracing turnaround times is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nhs-test-and-trace-statistics-england-weekly-reportsThe weekly Public Health England surveillance report showing positive cases by various demographics is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/906073/Weekly_COVID19_Surveillance_Report_week_31_FINAL_V2.pdf

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what process is available to people that are unable to wear masks as a result of to health conditions to prove that to enforcing officers.

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which disabilities his Departments plans to exempt people from wearing a face covering in shops from 24 July 2020; and what processes will be put in place for people to prove they are exempt.

Jo Churchill: People do not need to wear a face covering if they have a legitimate reason not to. This includes:- not being able to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability;- if putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause the wearer severe distress; and- if travelling with or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading to communicate. The list of exemptions is not exhaustive and would extend to someone who has a justifiable reason for not wearing one on the grounds of health or disability not outlined within the guidance.